Nailsea Vets 50s vs Russell Athletic 50s

Match Reports

Game on …… after a brief pitch inspection to ensure the frost hadn’t created an ice rink on the artificial surface at Nailsea School. The conditions meant that the ball zipped around and challenged both teams to ensure their passing was accurate.

Nailsea started brightly and dominated possession for much of the first half but didn’t put a single effort on target.

Russell were superb in defense, well organised, and giving little away. Half time looked to be heading for 0-0 until a Russell attack against the run of play found an unmarked player on the edge of the 18 yard box for him to fire into the roof of the net. Half time 0-1 to Russell.

The second half was similar in terms of possession. Nailsea were chasing hard for an equalizer but again lacked the necessary finish. With 10 minutes remaining Nailsea began to press higher up the pitch and a long clearance from Russell bounced awkwardly for the lone Nailsea center-half who couldn’t quite put enough on a header back to the keeper leaving the Russell striker a simple finish to make it 2-0.

Finally, Nailsea converted! Nelly delivered a telling cross from the right and Alex glanced in from close range. 3 minutes remained and with Nailsea looking for a highly unlikely last minute equalizer they were caught on the break again as Russell struck a 3^rd in the final seconds.

Nailsea removed one player from the pitch for a 10-minute cool-off following an exchange of verbals but otherwise, the game was played in a very good spirit. Congratulations to Russell for a well-deserved victory after a battling performance.